A President Who Reads Pollan?

Holy crap. Words I thought I'd never hear. Sweet music to my ears. One of the presidential candidates gets it about how f-ed up our food systems are:

"I was just reading an article in The New York Times by Michael Pollan about food...."
-- Barack Obama, from an interview with Time's Joe Klein.

This makes me so happy, I can't even tell you. Now, we just need to elect the man. And then, hold him to his promises.

(h/t to Grist.)


P.S. I realize tomorrow is the start of NaBloPoMo! I can't believe how busy I will be until November 4th. But I do promise to post every day, even if it's something small and silly and not a recipe. However, to start the month off grandly -- and deliciously -- I have a wonderful mushroom recipe to post tomorrow. Stay tuned!

2 Things

Well, there are actually a lot of things going on. But I'll keep this blog focused on these two things I read recently:

1. "Organic farming offers Africa the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition it has been locked in for decades, according to a major study from the United Nations" presented on Wednesday. YES! Now, if we can only make this happen. We need a Gates Foundation that is dedicated to re-shaping Africa through organic farming. Maybe this would even fit into the Gates Foundation's mission? This is about health!
2. Finally, one of the presidential candidates talks about farmers and how important the future of food is to the future of this country! This is what Barack Obama said in Indiana yesterday:
   

"I want you to know that if I'm elected President, I will fight for you - because America's farmers are America's future. And it's time we had a President who understood that."

I think Rebbe Pollan would agree with both.

If for no other reason at all....

VOTE THIS NOVEMBER 4th!

Even if only for the free ice cream. ;-)

God I love Ben & Jerry's. When I was at San Francisco City Hall witnessing the first legal marriage between a same-sex couple, Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon, Ben & Jerry's had sent a truck and they were giving away free ice cream right outside city hall. How awesome is that?

And now, they come through for us on Election Day, too.

Save your "I Voted!" sticker!



P.S. If you live in California, please vote NO on Prop 8.

My New Toys

My mother-in-law recently sent hubby and me a little care package...with these two new toys inside!

I wasn't sure I'd make use of them, but I figured I'd give them a try.

I've actually never owned a garlic peeler before. I'd seen them, but just never got on that bandwagon. I figured it was a lazy person's tool. I had a knife and a cutting board and that worked perfectly fine for me, thank you very much.

Well. I eat my words. This thing is awesome! I hadn't realized how much time I was spending peeling my garlic until this thing came along. Now I use it literally every night.

As for the little chopper you see there, well, I was equally skeptical. Who needs one of those, I thought? I can chop garlic perfectly quickly and easily. And it's true; I can. But this thing makes really fast work of multiple cloves, and I use it all the time now, too. I use it for my many-clove recipes. Which, let's be honest, is most recipes around here. We like our garlic.

So, thank you, mother-in-law! And if you've ever thought about picking one of these kinds of gadgets up, I can attest they are worth their salt.

Quote for the Day

"Genius is one thing, but when you're facing pulling together a work night meal, logic will stand you in better stead."

-- Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Are you registered to vote?

This has nothing to do with food. Except that, well, it kinda does.

Are you registered to vote? Take a minute to find out if you are and PLEASE register if you haven't yet!

I am sitting on my hands, very hard, to restrain myself from asking you to vote for certain people or things. This blog is about food, and I think everyone has a place at the table. Certainly if we're going to fix our failing food systems, it will take everyone sitting at the table to make it happen.

Please just vote.

NaBloPoMo is on the Horizon!

And I'll be joining in the fun this year again, too.

What the heck is NaBloPoMo?

November is National Blog Posting Month. Where did it get such a dorky name?

Here's what www.nablopomo.com tells us:

"The name NaBloPoMo is derived from NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, where participants try to write an entire novel in one month. We're here because we can't commit to an endeavor of such magnitude, but we can post on our blogs every day for a month! Weekends included."

So there you have it. Stay tuned in November as I wrench my way through posting every. single. day.

If you want to help me out, send me your recipes! In fact, I would love to post your favorite Thanksgiving recipe, whatever the dish may be. Send them on in!

Menu Plan for the Week

The weather has definitely changed here in Oregon, along with the leaves, and it's lovely.

The crisper air is inspiring dishes that I had put away, that I haven't turned to in a long while, and it kind of feels like coming home to old friends.

This is what we're eating at Casa Dena this week:

• Sunday: Hearty Autumn Chili
  
• Monday: Homemade General Tso's Chicken (will post recipe and pics soon -- it was awesome!)
• Tuesday: Brussels Sprouts with Quinoa (one of our very favorites around here; I have got to take photos and post this one! We keep eating it all before photos can happen. But not this time!)
• Wednesday: Broccoli Rabe Pasta with Italian Sausage
• Thursday: I'm taking a cooking class! It's called "Wild About Oregon Mushrooms." Hubby will fend for himself for dinner. I can't WAIT! Here's what's on the menu for my class:

- Wild Mushroom Canapé with White Bean Puree and Mascarpone Cheese
- Butternut Squash Bisque with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Olive Oil
- Pistachio Crusted Chicken Roulade with Caramelized Mushroom Fontina Ragu
- Creamy Herb Polenta and Roasted Pepper Coulis
- Apple Tart Tatin with French Vanilla Ice Cream

• Friday: Some kind of quick and cheap takeout....
  

What are YOU cooking this week? Has autumn hit where you live?

The Omnivore's 100

One of my favorite blogs, Citymama, posted this very cool meme recently. How could I not post my own?

(Okay so my list is pretty lame because I don't eat fish or seafood. Ah well. But I didn't cross out most of the seafood, b/c I was using this as my criteria: would I eat it if I HAD to? Most seafood I would -- I would then gag it up, but if it would win me millions of dollars on Fear Factor, then I would. The stuff I crossed out I would not be able to eat for a million dollars. No way.)

If you want to join in, here's what you need to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Dena's Version of the VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (! I haven't, but I would.)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (Mostly b/c I hear that it just isn't worth it.)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (Ewwwwwwwwww.)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (Not proud of this one. The thought of it makes me ill at the moment. Have you heard about this? Holy moly.)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (NO but now that I know what it is, I WANT it. Now.)
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads (EWW EWW EWW.)
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (DOUBLE EWW.)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (Okay this one makes me ill to think about, too.)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (Never. Ever. Ever.)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

What about you?

Grassroots Bailout

This is so cool.

Yet another reason why I lovermont.

New Fangled Pots & Pans

Okay I admit it. I am a total sucker for a luscious pot or pan. Looking at All Clad pans is like watching porn to me. But sometimes, like now, when I am in the market for a new pan -- I need something to replace my old non-stick pan -- I get totally overwhelmed by the choices.

The New York Times is talking about that today. I am hoping to find some help in figuring out exactly with what I want to replace my non-stick pan. I don't want more toxic non-stick surface, but I do want something that will be easy on pan-frying all sorts of things, from eggs to chicken strips to tofu.

Coated cast iron? Thermolon? I don't know yet. I do know I want something that can withstand high heat without giving off toxic chemicals or gasses like Teflon does. I want to just be able to cook without worrying I'm poisoning my diners!

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Updated: what about thoughts on Calphalon One Anodized pans?